My Story

[Roboframer]

Hello everyone, this is my first post on the Picture Framers Forum, I never knew it existed till today. Thank You John Cooper of Merlin Framers, who found me grunbling on the american forum - where I am close to being promoted to a Master Grumbler!

If you subscribe to The Picture Business you'll have seen my ugly mush in the November issue, a story about how we evolved. I'm also in this month's issue - an article on framing needlework. Fame at last!

Anyway, incase you didn't read all about me - here's my story - short version, as way of introduction. Feel free to give us yours.

1970-93 Forces - joined at age 15 - Gained promotion quickly Private to Court Martial in a month!

1980 Thrown out of the SAS for bullying!

(Serious from here on)

Took up calligraphy in 1986. Got very good at it, took regular commissions. Got to know a lot of FRAMERS around the UK who framed my work.

Thought "THAT'S what I'll do when I grow up"
(Done it but have yet to grow up!)

1993 Day job - plus converted half of our garage to a framing workshop, started practicing on my own stuff, took two courses.

1994, announced our existence via leaflets and a business phone line. Got busier and busier, all work was collected & delivered, planning permission did not allow customers to call.

1995. Converted whole garage (WOW) added machinery (Until now only had a manual underpinner - all else were hand tools)

1996-97 Had two full time jobs, coming home from day job then framing till the wee hours, plus all weekend. Something had to go, started talking about opening a shop.

1997 Day job went, just as I gained a promotion too. Took over a small needlecraft/wool shop - dropped the wool added framing and some fine art. Looking back I am so glad that we 'hit the high street' with 3 years experience under our belts. So many businesses - not just framing - seem to appear with "all the gear and no idea" Then they quickly become set in their ways, setting themselves low standards and sticking rigidly to them.

Ran out of space rapidly, workshop still at home too. Just me and my wife running the show with me on call for the shop plus nipping down at lunch times.

1998 Took on a shop assistant

1999, started looking for larger premises. All too far away, too small, too big too SOMETHING.

2000 local hardware/bike store went bust, just across the road, all very sudden. Moved like striking cobras, fought off a National chemist chain for the lease; increased our square footage 6 times over. Quickly became the best stocked needlecraft shop on the South Coast (apparently) Took on a framer - had to, then another, plus another shop assistant and a cleaner.

Needlecraft is an excellent sideline to framing, buy it, stitch it, bring it back for framing. Needlcraft (framing of) customers are the most appreciative of a job well done.

Added other crafts to the needlecraft, rubber stamping etc. Took a lot of knitting wool back on too. But framing/fine art still accounts for 60% of turnover; more than that of profit.

First shop had a dry cleaning agency, we still have it. Second shop had a photocopying service, we kept that too. With all this going on customers are very diverse. People have come in for a five pence photocopy and left with a £500 picture. People that would never go to a gift shop just to browse, have come in for a reel of cotton and left with it plus a piece of crystal.

2000 - present. Added giftware, added greetings, reduced fine art.

Radio advert running for last 3 years on local radio station, really works well. Newsletter goes out to around 2000 addresses by post/email/handout in shop - very popular.

All positive? Well yes, it's not work, it's religion.

Negatives? In eleven years we have had one holiday - a long weekend - and that was this year.
I always wanted to work for myself but I am the worst boss I have ever had, I impose terrible conditions on myself.

Could I sue myself I wonder?

But now we have staff that can run the joint for a week or two with a bit of notice, and even now we KNOW we can take off pretty much whenever we want, we haven't yet, I think we'd get bored actually!

I still love calligraphy, but keep quiet about it, Too painstaking and I just do not have time, I take the odd commission for those that find me, but always try and put them off with cost, doesn't always work!

Bottom line? I am a framer because I tried to improve my crap handwriting!

More to it though (of course) - My wife - Pat - is a qualified book keeper, worked in the city, ran her own international haulage firm. Brawn and brains between us. (Actually she has both) The National chemist chain with me alone, would have sucked me in and spat me out, I'd not have got past the dream to start with, I'd just be able to write you a very posh letter.

This was supposed to be note form - Sorry, still -not that long winded.

Come on - what's YOUR story?

It's not that I'm nosey
It's just that I'm VERY VERY nosey!


--------------------
John Turner BFA (hons)

[John]

Hi John,

Welcome to the forum.

You have introduced yourself well, and your story will be an inspiration to many starting out.

A word of caution to the beginners though, just in case you are thinking it is going to be easy, its not every framer that can gad about willy nilly taking weekends off at the drop of a hat every eleven years or so.

[Roboframer]

Oops!

[kev@frames]

Ok then, you guilted me out in another post Robo, It took me ages to find your first post.

Before framing I used to work offshore for a French diving company, mostly oilfiled work, sometimes on rigs, mostly on DSVs. UK sector, Norway, Holland. Id progressed from useless grunt to life support supervisor over a few years in the game, and got around a bit with work- US, india, south america, africa- the usual suspect places. Wherever they drilled a hole in the seabed we would get a phone call and pitch up like a circus (clowns and all).

then...

At the ripe age of 3-something in 1990 I got married to the long suffering Mrs Kev,with a young family sprouting up, and pubs, parties, fast cars and lost weekends with "yer mates" a memory thats receeding as fast as my hairline is now.

As the work was fairly seasonal, mostly I worked five or six months a year, I got bored to pieces. I'd learned to fly, built a plane, got into the aviation scene locally, even been the chairman of the local flying club for three years along the way. But I'd never had a job where I made something from start to finish..... Framing was to be that job eventually.

So, in a very roundabout and accidental way I found myself in this business - way back then I needed a "hobby". and when I was a young lad I worked for a printer. A heidelberg letterpress press came up, for scrap money, it gave me an opportunity to get some spanners out and start a "project", fill the shed up with more oily junk, and have something to tinker with. A little while later some old printing blocks came up, old map plates of cornwall. So I printed some up, really for the fun of it. People wanted to buy them!

Then a chap offered to frame them for me. I'd taken some orders. It goes without saying that he let me down and so it was off to the DIY store for a mitre saw.... and some very bad framing.

Then we had a holiday in Dartmouth, and mrs Kev bought me
an "antique" diving picture. Turned out this priceless relic was a cut out from a 1906 issue of "punch"... so a plan formed.

A secondhand mount cutter from Ventons and a pile of old punch magazines from the turn of the century and the worst produced business paln ever, I told them to stick their job where the sun doesn't shine.

After a while we were broke. Not sharing any genetic material with Richard Branson, having no plan, and no income, it was a surefire thing that you would see us shopping for clothes in Scope and the 300ZX had long since been relaced by a 12 year old sierra with more holes in it than the mary rose.

Sold big house in town. Moved to small artizans hovel in the country.

Then a market stall.

Then a shop.

Then a secondhand morso from an artist in St Ives.

Then staff.

Then two shops and 7 staff. Then (almost) three shops.

Shop and gallery, exhibitions etc.

Then back to one shop. (phew- turnover = vanity, profit = sanity)

Sold artizans hovel at ridiculous price to londoners wanting a quaint spider-filled smokey draughty holiday home in Cornwall, and bought a house in town on the same road we moved out of all those years ago for a quarter of a million more than we sold the first one for using the proceeds of "they daft buggers up country" who were now enjoying banging their heads on beams and the dubious joys of having tractors past your windows all hours of the day and night.
(the Branson gene once again conspicuous by its absence - only house price rises to thank for that one)

Another year or two and website sorted out, online sales took off.

So fifteen or sixteen years and three accountants and several Kawasaki motorcycles later, here we still are. Groundhog day in a frame shop working ridiculous hours for about fifteen pence an hour and fondly looking back on our last holiday 8 years ago.

I think that was more obituary than curriculum vite. Or fifteen years of winging it.

Here's to the next 15

the horror.......the horror......

kev

[Roboframer]

Well worth waiting for Kev, brilliant!

[foxyframer]

Married to Ann; two boomerang children in their early twenties. Lived in an edwardian house with an acre garden for the past 20 years with a nearby gallery and frame shop.

My path into framing came mainly via:

Hotelwork: on reception, waiting at table. Formative years in Dorset!

Double glazing consultant,as we were called: soft sell by the girls in the afternoon and us reps would follow up in the evenings with the big guns. Great fun, well rewarded and ideal for honing the interpersonal skills.

Cabinet Making: for a few years which led into framing in a gallery for a couple of years.
That was my intro to setting up my own framing business in the early 70's. We had the three day week; electricity cuts,when the lights would go out, generally when serving customers. All companies had reps call every three months, religiously. One from Oliver's wrote the framing order on the inside of a fag packet. Rep and company long gone. Orders would take a good two weeks to arrive. Next day, no way.
The trade has come a long way since then, for the better.
In 2000 we had a large studio built on the back of the house to take care of the mount-cutters and other 'do not disturb' jobs; serves as an office too, from where I write this post.
I've come into the trade from a different direction, but I would imagine like most of you I like what I do and still retain the same enthusiam as when I started all those years ago.

Nothing beats being self-employed, if you put the effort in.

Always an interesting range of reactions when socially asked 'what do you do?' Anyone noticed the green-eyed monster surface as the salaried classes minds work overtime. Grass is always greener... but the hours are far longer.

Let's have a few more autobiogs and posts from those who have not yet sent one. What does it take to encourage some others to make a contribution.

[kaptain.kopter]

Served 17 years in the RAF as a photographer. The job involved a whole range of subjects from portraits of royalty, technical engineering, forensics and surveillance.

Decided to take redundancy in April 2006 and spend some quality time with my family. Still can’t believe how lucky I was to get paid to leave when the whole military is stretched beyond anything we’ve seen before.

The plan was to do a wedding a month, a few portraits, a little commercial work and some framing.

Went on a basic framing course and renovated my workshop with tools of trade.
Morso F, Cassese 486, Ademco vacuum press, Smart 4060 mount cutter and a Keencut 4000. God bless ebay.

A guy I used to work with used to do all my framing, but he moved to Scotland. Fortunately he passed on some valuable knowledge and more importantly, his contacts.

Nine months down the line and I still haven’t got any advertising sorted out as word of mouth is keeping me more than busy. I’ve even turned down some camera work to concentrate more on the framing. It just gets into the blood I guess.

A big thank you to all out there who have passed on some fabulous information and tips for newbies like myself. I guess with Roboframer being an ex pongo and Merlin an ex fishead, it was only a matter of time before an ex crab turned up.

As for the benefits of being self employed. I now wake up smiling at the prospect of the day ahead, something I hadn’t done for a few years. Mind you, I haven’t had my first tax return yet. Roll on April.

Memo to self: stop using so many emoticons!!

[Keith Hewitt]

Kaptian Kopter,

I'm sure Roboframer has been called many names - but PONGO is new to me!
What's a Pongo?
I hope I'm not alone in asking....

Keith

[Framing Norah]

www.pongotheclown.com

[Merlin]

Excuse me Mr Crab! Fishead indeed. I joined up as one then saw the light and changed over to Aircrew in the FAA (Fleet Air Arm)

WAFU in Naval slang..!!!!

PONGO.... Where ever the Army goes, the PONG goes... is one explanation. I am sure that Robo will come out with romantic/common sense explanation.

Sail Navy. Walk Army. Eat Crab

Friendly inter service rivalry. Brilliant..

[kaptain.kopter]

WAFU in Naval slang..!!!!

Definition: Wet and F*****g Useless.

Just in case any of you were wondering.

[Keith Hewitt]

For those who like me were too young to do national service and therefore fail to understand some of the forces slang above, - then this link will give you a whole new way of talking English!

http://www.royalmarinesbands.co.uk/reference/Slang.htm

Come to think of it we could do whole item in Forces slang and then send a link to John Ranes in USA and ask him to comment. Shall we save this idea until APRIL 1st?

Keith

[Roboframer]

I thought 'fisheads' were what the Navy called Royal Marines. I don't remember what we called the Navy ot the Airforce, but then I suppose we didn't have an inferiority complex

I remember names we had for regiments within the Army though

R Artillery - 'Drop Shorts'
R Signals - Scaly Backs
R Engineers - Derv Rags
Ordnance Corps - Blanket Stackers
All Guards Regiments - Wooden Tops (Tick Tock. Tick Tock)

Don't remember one for the Paras, but we used to say that two things fell out of the sky, Bird Sh** and Paras!

If you want a good laugh and are not easily offended check out ARRSE Or the Army Rumour Service - esp the 'NAAFI bar' forum.

It's a massive forum, busier, I would say, than The Grumble - a good source for plenty of seious stuff - but the 'fun' forums are not for the faint hearted - trust me!

[Merlin]

Oh Dear Robo

Fisheads are the R.N. Surface fleet.
Smellies are the R.N. Submarine Service. They do to sea in those black alumium tubes.
Booties are the Royal Marines
Bubble Heads are divers from all three services. Plus Kev (Moonshine)

WAFUs.. Yes Crab (walk sideways nicely please) you are right. In the early days, aircraft and helicopters had a habit of falling into the sea. In fact even in later life they did. I had a few 'free swims' myself.

To help you out the book... JACK SPEAK, as referred to above by Keith was written by a superb gentleman. An R.N. Doctor/surgeon.

Well worth a read.

[kev@frames]

Bubble head!!! arg! We used to say about the ex RN divers "give them the job and they'll finish the tools"
and SNAFU.

Situation
Normal
All
F****
Up

At the end of every checklist: "all pigs fed and ready to fly".